Sublime Sergio Pacheco hits brace to leave Floriana green

Floriana 0
Tarxien Rainbows 2
Pacheco 44, 62;

The policy of Tarxien Rainbows to recruit from Brazil paid rich dividends yesterday as their South American imports supplied the spark and punch that inspired the Blues to a 2-0 victory over Floriana.

Sergio Pacheco was always facing an uphill struggle to fill the void left by Denni’s close-season move to Valletta but the gifted playmaker dispelled all the scepticism about his skills as he capped a scintillating performance with a brace of goals.

Having put Tarxien ahead late in the first half, Pacheco rubber-stamped his team’s win with a superb goal early in the second half as the Rainbows secured back-to-back wins for the first time this season.

Floriana, now joined by Tarxien on the 10-point mark, saw more of the ball but they found it hard to break down resolute opponents who banked on the flair of their Brazilians to bash holes in the Greens’ defence.

How fitting then that it was Pacheco, a straightforward choice for the player of the match award, who settled the contest with a great piece of skill.

Everton was the only absentee for Tarxien as the two centre-half roles were assigned to Orosco Anonam and Lee Galea.

Noel Coleiro’s selection offered one notable surprise as goalkeeper David Cassar was preferred to Anthony Curmi. The Tarxien coach entrusted his Brazilian quartet to lead his team’s attacking charge as Ricardo Costa, Cristiano, Daniel Mariano Bueno and Pacheco were all given licence to roam and interchange in the final third.

Michael Mecerod’s reward for his winning goal against Qormi was a spot in Floriana’s starting XI yesterday. The American forward was deployed at the tip of Floriana’s 4-3-3 formation with Ivan Woods and Christian Caruana taking up wide positions on the wings.

Barely five minutes from the start of the game had expired when Floriana had a good chance to take the lead. Manolito Micallef’s cross from a left-wing corner fell into the six-yard box where Woods profited from Tarxien’s hesitancy but his close-range effort flew past the wrong side of the near post.

Scoring chances were something of a rarity in the opening 15 minutes.

Floriana survived a scare when Bulgarian defender Ivailo Sokolov, unsettled by the lurking presence of Cristiano, almost committed an own goal as his hasty clearance brushed the upright.

At the other end, Woods headed wide from another cross from Micallef, a dynamic figure on Floriana’s left flank in these early stages.

Despite enjoying the lion’s share of possession, Floriana lacked a cutting edge. A minute past the half-hour, Caruana lofted a pass towards Woods who darted into the box but lost possession as he collided with Cassar.

Nine minutes from half-time, Pacheco showed impeccable technique to drift infield from the right before crossing into the goalmouth but Cristiano mishit his shot.

The Tarxien forwards swapped roles to put their team ahead a minute from half-time.

Cristiano was the provider with a defence-splitting cross from the right and Pacheco rifled past Lofti Saidi from point-blank range.

In first-half stoppage time, Floriana almost grabbed an equaliser but Mecerod volleyed wide after getting on the end of Clyde Borg’s service.

Coleiro introduced Gianluca Calabretta for the injured Bueno during the interval. Inside the opening three minutes of the second half, Woods connected with Clyde Borg’s through-ball but his far-post attempt was deflected away for a corner.

Floriana set the tempo in those initial stages of the second period.

Another chance fell to Woods who rose unimpeded after Joseph Borg’s cross was deflected into his path but the Floriana striker’s looping header skimmed the crossbar.

The Rainbows had encountered difficulties to venture out of their half for much of the opening 15 minutes of the second period but Pacheco’s brilliance kept their attacking threat alive.

Just past the hour, he slipped a perfect ball to Calabretta whose diagonal effort was saved by Saidi. This was the pre-amble to Tarxien’s second goal which drew gasps of admiration from the Tedesco Stadium crowd.

Ricardo Costa threw the Floriana defence off balance with an audacious reverse pass to Sergio Pacheco who showed extraordinary poise and composure as, in one swift movement, he flicked the ball from his left foot onto his right and past the wrong-footed Saidi.

Raykov’s response to Tarxien’s double advantage was to make three quick substitutions, throwing in the fray Ryan Darmanin, Christian Cassar and Pablo Doffo.

Floriana’s reaction was sterile though. They only threatened nine minutes from time when Mecerod’s free-kick was deflected over the bar. The Tarxien keeper then did well to fist away Cassar’s free-kick.

Floriana
L. Saidi-4, O. Bugeja-4 (66 C. Cassar-5), B. Said-5, I. Sokolov-5, M. Micallef-7, C. Caruana-4 (66 R. Darmanin-4), M. Mecerod-4, I. Woods-6, J. Borg-5.5, T. Farrugia-5, C. Borg-6 (72 P. Doffo-5).

Tarxien Rainbows
D. Cassar-7, M. Caruana-6, Ricardo Costa-6.5, Cristiano-7.5, Sergio Pacheco-8.5 (89 J. Vella), M. Tanti-6.5, D.M. Bueno-5 (46 G. Calabretta-5), L. Vella Critien-5 (58 R. Mintoff-5), O. Anonam-7, L. Galea-7.5, J. Grioli-6.

Referee: Marco Borg.

Yellow cards: Anonam; Mecerod; Farrugia; Sokolov; Galea; Doffo.

BOV player of the match: Sergio Pacheco (Tarxien).